[ianharper]

Hi Guys

Just sitting down to write a new A3 flier and putting together some ideas. as you might now I am using the Bio-Eco USP and have come up with 10 benefits.

So What’s Bio-Eco Carpet Cleaning?

Its Plant Based Cleaning Products With Carbon Neutral Cleaning methods.

What Are The Benefits To Me?

1. It safe to you, your family, your pets and the environment.
2. It does not cost you any extra
3. When the environments benefits you and your family will.
3. NO ammonia. NO animal products. NO Bacteria or Enzymes. NO artificial ingredients. NO isopropyl   alcohol. NO phosphates. NO solvents (apart from water). NO synthetic chemicals. NO harmful ingredients. 4. NO Soap or detergents .
5. Derived from renewable/sustainable sources. Fully Biodegradable.
6. No residue left, that means no rapped resoling like traditional products
7. No water pollution.
8. Reduce Endocrine disruption in wildlife, which reduces the ability to reproduce.
9. Reduce Bioaccumulation  In fish. (Which we eat.)
10. Lastly your carpets are the lungs of your home trapping harmful particles stopping you and your family breathing them in.

The above can be use as the basis of any marketing. its give prospect the 10 benefits for using a Eco cleaner. It also puts you in a position of knowledge. prospects don't want to think about this stuff but do care, so its much easier to use professionals that take care of it for them.

I will post the new A3 on my blog when i have had it checked some time in the next week.

How are you all finding this new approach? I am finding lots of interest. but as I said people need it sorted for them.

Respect

Ian Harper

[John Gregory]

I,ve tryed the eco friendly approach on leaflets and Im finding that customers arnt arsed they just want there carpets cleaned, and dry as soon as possible 

John

[ianharper]

Hi John

With respect that's a bit of a general sweeping statement. to say that all your customers don't care. I was thinking about how it would be possible to get answers to questions like this today, no one has ever bothered to ask people what they think about carpet cleaning and what value it has to them.

I might look into a questionnaire survey like they do with consumer products. I heard one today that was done on the public view on Gorden brown, it was done by Essex university and they asked 1,000 people. the guy that did it predicts voting trends.

We all have our view and i respect yours, but don't you think that it would be better to base them on more wide sweeping data?

Respect

ian harper

[Liahona]

For what its worth I think John has hit the nail on the head.  Sweeping statement maybe but I would say very accurate.  On the whole we could use a thermic lance and if it does as John has suggested, cleaned and dried the carpet then job done.

If they were concerned about "eco" then they wouldnt have a carpet in the first place.

Best, Dave.

[John Gregory]

Ian ,  you are right it was sweeping statement But im affraid to say its true , when a customer  phones me they want there carpets/ upholstery cleaning.  I try to educate them regarding eco friendly products and that maintaining there carpets will save them money and the enviroment in the long run but they dont seem interested.

Example    ,       Went to a house today  customer a teacher on maternaty leave she paid £2000 on her lounge HSL carpet 8 months ago  ,  the carpet looked like it had nt been vacked since it was fitted   I started off using formula 321  with a ph of 10.5 it still looked bad ended up using  champion from craftex just to get something that resembled a result

[Mike Halliday]

some random thoughts

'if it can't be sold in 30 seconds, then it won't be bought' explain eco-cleaning in 30 seconds or it will outlast the attention span of the average reader

forget the planet, customers are thinking what's in it for me and give them what they want, not what you think they need.

stop trying to re-invent the wheel,

MIKE

[prodry]

Ian

Are you the same bloke who does the Powergen adverts on TV.

[ianharper]

guys

think about the word "marketing" it has a big difference to selling

selling is trying to sell something to someone that does not need it, but marketing is sell to a need or demand. big difference.

and yes you are both right, because what you are talking about is selling

respect

ian harper

prodry: Yes I am the love child between him and mother earth

[ianharper]

Why People Buy
by Jay Conrad Levinson
   
Print Printer Friendly Version
Perhaps you already know why people buy, but do you know all 51 reasons? The more of those reasons you know, the better you'll be able to market.

Geoff Ayling, in his superb book, "Rapid Response Advertising," provides
wannabe guerrillas with a full fifty reasons why people buy. There are
really far more than fifty, but I have a feeling that these fifty will get
your creative juices flowing. People make purchases for these, among many reasons:

1. To make more money – even though it can’t buy happiness
2. To become more comfortable, even a bit more
3. To attract praise – because almost everybody loves it
4. To increase enjoyment – of life, of business, of virtually anything
5. To possess things of beauty – because they nourish the soul
6. To avoid criticism – which nobody wants
7. To make their work easier – a constant need to many people
8. To speed up their work – because people know that time is precious
9. To keep up with the Joneses – there are Joneses in everybody’s lives
10. To feel opulent – a rare, but valid reason to make a purchase
11. To look younger – due to the reverence placed upon youthfulness
12. To become more efficient – because efficiency saves time
13. To buy friendship – I didn’t know it’s for sale, but it often is
14. To avoid effort – because nobody loves to work too hard
15. To escape or avoid pain – which is an easy path to making a sale
16. To protect their possessions – because they worked hard to get them
17. To be in style – because few people enjoy being out of style
18. To avoid trouble – because trouble is never a joy
19. To access opportunities – because they open the doors to good things
20. To express love – one of the noblest reasons to make any purchase
21. To be entertained – because entertainment is usually fun
22. To be organized – because order makes lives simpler
23. To feel safe – because security is a basic human need
24. To conserve energy – their own or their planet’s sources of energy
25. To be accepted – because that means security as well as love
26. To save time -- because they know time is more valuable than money
27. To become more fit and healthy -- seems to me that’s an easy sale
28. To attract the opposite sex – never undermine the power of love
29. To protect their family – tapping into another basic human need
30. To emulate others – because the world is teeming with role models
31. To protect their reputation – because they worked hard to build it
32. To feel superior – which is why status symbols are sought after
33. To be trendy – because they know their friends will notice
34. To be excited – because people need excitement in a humdrum life
35. To communicate better -- because they want to be understood
36. To preserve the environment – giving rise to cause-related marketing
37. To satisfy an impulse – a basic reason behind a multitude of purchases
38. To save money – the most important reason to 14% of the population
39. To be cleaner – because unclean often goes with unhealthy and unloved
40. To be popular – because inclusion beats exclusion every time
41. To gratify curiosity -- it killed the cat but motivates the sale
42. To satisfy their appetite – because hunger is not a good thing
43. To be individual – because all of us are, and some of us need assurance
44. To escape stress – need I explain?
45. To gain convenience – because simplicity makes life easier
46. To be informed – because it’s no joy to be perceived as ignorant
47. To give to others – another way you can nourish your soul
48. To feel younger – because that equates with vitality and energy
49. To pursue a hobby – because all work and no play etc. etc. etc.
50. To leave a legacy – because that’s a way to live forever

[mark_roberts]

Ian

You seem to have lots of ideas but do you ever actually implement them?

What sort of results are you achieving as thats the bottom line regardless of the message.

MArk

PS. as others have said people arnt interested in it.  Look what happened to allerstop.

[John Gregory]

Why people employ carpet cleaners
by John Gregory
printer friendley version

1  to clean carpets

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I think it worth 'paper' advertising as a subheading and it may be a selling point but not then major one for most people, quality of clean and drying times are my most asked questions then I give my price.

Shaun

[ianharper]

Hi Mark

Check out my site

www.carpet-upholstery-cleaner.com

Marketing is about finding that market. it takes time to find where these groups of people hang out. that's why allergstop went wrong. nick was advertising in the allergy mag, when he should have been in the sister mag asthma. (among other reasons)

Big difference between how people see allergies, say the word allergy and they all think about food allergies and if you read the "allergy" mag that's what it was about. asthma is about allergies that are caused by air, and allergstop was about air allergens. plus the name was wrong why call it allergstop and not allergystop. one letter makes a big difference to how you say the word, and how it communicates to the reader

Dan kennedy has a saying that small hinges swing big doors. or the devil is in the detail.

You wrote the word message, so you know about message to market match then? if message is unimportant then what are prospects buying on then cost. that's a one way street.

Carpet cleaners have banged on for years about being looked at as just dirt suckers. we all know that there is a science to cleaning but the public don't. Every job I go on in my starter pack are copies of my city and guilds and prospects are blown away when they see them because they see cleaning as easy, and because they can do it, it has no value.

many join NCCA to gain this credibility with prospects and it works. Why because over many years they have worked to promote professional cleaning.

Things are changing. the super bug is seeing to that. people now know how important cleaning can be and has always been. lets not let them forget. Eco cleaning is just being responsible with what you sue and how you use it, just as important as hygiene.

There are many that believe the Eco movement and many that just talk the talk, I do jobs for customers that have Eco cleaning products under their sink and are using me because of my Eco USP but have big cars on their drives and life styles that and nor Eco friendly. as you guys are pointing out many people don't give a dam. change is hard and how ever little it must be good and responsible.

if the science guys are right then it worth it, if not then its good business practice.

Respect

Ian Harper

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Chris Straker has changed his business over to the Eco clean and has done very well out of it, it gives him a better audience who are ready to buy a not normal product at a not normal price but the hardest thing is finding that audience. I don't believe YP is the way as it is mass where as the glossy mags and websites are for the more disconcerning.

Shaun

[carpetguy]

There have been many attempts over the past 20 years to introduce so called Bio Eco friendly products and as stated several times above.................

Whatever service or product you are selling, what your prospect wants to know, is, what it will do for them and that usually goes a bit beyond a clean carpet.

Most carpet / upholstery cleaning is done for a specific reason...........................brother  / sister visiting from Canada...................21st birthday, etc, etc. This is vanity cleaning and has nothing to do with, cleaning for health reasons

The occasional clean, is because, a new baby is due, or a pet has messed up and these are the most likely situations, when you might be asked about the safety, of products.

Incidentally, Ian,"  " marketing "is ANYTHING that creates ............An awareness / A need  /  A desire, for a product, or service !!!

[melanie rowe]

Ian, if they aint gonna listen then its their loss, we recently added an eco option to our flyers, and to be honest we dont even mention it to callers they have the option and they choose it, even though it costs them Twice the price of a detergent clean! to us its a no brainer, if you dont offer it, how can you expect to see any result from it.

[boshravie]

Hi guys

Well another interesting subject.
As ian said nearly 7 out of 10 clients of ours have eco friendly products under their sink.
Come to think of it again this is about marketing , and educating people towards healthy living without doing any damage to the earth.

All you have to do just look in to your local super market and see how they are making billions of ££££££ just out of this eco friendly logo.


Regards

Bosh

[John Gregory]

Boshravie     Im sure it will work one day just not yet Ive just looked under my sink and found Biological washing powder, fairy washing up liquid, why do i buy these products?  because i now they work . Procter and Gamble give you a choice in the supermarket bio or non bio I wonder which is there best seller?

[ianharper]

A3 leaflet now on blog

http://cleanersnetwork.wordpress.com/

[John Gregory]

Ian well impressed with leaflet hope it works , I like the way you are trying to educate the potential customer about protecting there investment in carpets and upholstery 

John